DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
In addressing the rejection ground, each claim may not have been separately discussed to the extent the claimed features are the same as or similar to the previously-discussed features; the previous discussion is construed to apply for the other claims in the same or similar way.
In the office action, “/” should be read as and/or as generally understood. For example, “A/B” means A and B, or A or B.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-4 and 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Oka (US 2020/0178361).
Regarding claim 1, Oka discloses a light-emitting device [e.g. fig. 20] comprising: n (n≥2) light sources [e.g. LD11-LD1n]; n power supply circuits [e.g. LPF11, SW11, C11; …; LPF1n, SW1n, C1n] each provided for the n light sources; and a switch [e.g. SW30] provided between a ground-side node of each of the n light sources and a ground, wherein each power supply circuit generates a power supply voltage for a corresponding one of the n light sources on the basis of a first signal [e.g. Charge_Ctrl_1 - Charge_Ctrl_n, see at least para. 0104], and stops generating the power supply voltage on the basis of a second signal [e.g. the control signal of SW41-SW4n], and the switch is turned on the basis of a light-on instruction and is turned off on the basis of a light-off instruction [e.g. Pulse_Ctrl] when the power supply voltage for the one light source is generated.
Regarding claim 2, Oka discloses the light-emitting device according to claim 1, wherein each power supply circuit includes a first capacitor [e.g. C11-C1n] that generates the power supply voltage, and a charge-discharge circuit [e.g. SW11, SW41;…; SW1n, SW4n] that charges the first capacitor on the basis of the first signal and discharges the first capacitor on the basis of the second signal.
Regarding claim 3, Oka discloses the light-emitting device according to claim 2, further comprising a resistor [see at least para. 0091, a resistor is added between the first switch element SW and the capacitor C if required] provided between the charge-discharge circuit and the first capacitor.
Regarding claim 4, Oka discloses the light-emitting device according to claim 3, further comprising: a control circuit [e.g. the circuit controlling SW11-SW1n and the circuit controlling SW41-SW4n] that outputs the first and second signals to each of the n power supply circuits and controls each of the n power supply circuits, wherein the control circuit controls first and second power supply circuits of the n power supply circuits such that the first capacitor of the second power supply circuit is charged when the first capacitor of the first power supply circuit is discharged [see at least fig. 21].
Regarding claim 8, Oka discloses the light-emitting device according to claim 1, wherein the light source includes any of a laser diode [LD1-LDn] or a light emitting diode, and an optical member [e.g. coupling lens 12 fig. 6, also see para. 0081] that adjusts distribution of light from the any of the laser diode or the light emitting diode.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Oka (US 2020/0178361) in view of Miyagawa et al. (US 2018/0109073).
Regarding claim 5, Oka discloses the light-emitting device according to claim 2, except further comprising: a second capacitor provided between the ground-side node of each of the n light sources and the switch; and a resistor connected in parallel to the second capacitor. However, Miyagawa discloses a second capacitor [e.g. 102b fig. 3B] provided between the ground-side node of a light source and a switch [103] provided between a ground-side node of the light source and a ground; and a resistor [e.g. 102a] connected in parallel to the second capacitor. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device disclosed by Oka in accordance with the teaching of Miyagawa regarding a differentiation circuit 102 in order to suppress the generation of subsequent relaxation oscillation [see at least para. 0055].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6-7 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PATRICK C CHEN whose telephone number is (571)270-7207. The examiner can normally be reached M-F Flexible 9:00-5:30.
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/PATRICK C CHEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2842